Mass. Realtors: November home sales hit 13-year low

WALTHAM - Home sales dropped 12.6 percent in November compared to a year ago as the residential real estate market continued a sluggish autumn stretch.

Staff reports

Home sales dropped 12.6 percent in November compared to a year ago as the residential real estate market continued a sluggish autumn stretch.

The Massachusetts Associated of Realtors yesterday reported that 2,986 single-family homes were sold last month, compared to 3,416 sold in November 2006. It was the slowest November since 1994, when 2,847 home sales were recorded.

The statewide median home price held steady at $330,000 compared to October but was down nearly 3 percent compared to a year ago, the Waltham-based trade group said yesterday.

Sales of condominiums slid 14.2 percent compared to a year ago but the median price rose nearly 2 percent to $275,000. Condo prices have seen year-over-year increases for nine straight months.

Combined statewide home and condo sales through November are down 3 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Doug Azarian, a Falmouth broker who heads the Realtors group, said the market conditions favor first-time homebuyers, who don't have a property to sell while simultaneously searching for another place.

"It's a buyer's market now but the buyers are sitting on the sideline,'' he said in a statement.

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